The research proposed here will longitudinally investigate the natural course of recovery of language function for the first three months following stroke. One hundred and twenty patients will be followed for that time period. The method will be systematic observation of the patients during the length of their hospitalization. Features of their communication, language comprehension, orientation to time and place willl be observed and documented. These observations will be related to speech and language measurement by formal test at one, two and three months post-ictus, using multiple regression analysis. Observations and formal test scores will also be related to a set of medical factors and prestroke characteristics which are thought to influence outcome of stroke. Both right and left hemispheric stroke patients will be studied. The objective of the proposed research is to provide early prognostic details that will be useful in planning treatment for aphasia, as well as to chronicle the way language recovers not only in patients who remain aphasic, but in patients who fully recover as well. Disciplines for which this project is of interest include speech/language pathology, neurology, and neurolingustics.